The Evolution of The Armitage at the BAFTAS ~ by guest blogger @Rob

With New Year's Eve upon us, it got me thinking about RA in a tux. 
I doubt he spends his NYE in one, but a girl can fantasize can't she???
Besides, he has made quite a transformation on the red carpet over the years.

2007-- Guy of Gisborne Rocks the Red Carpet.

2009-- RA goes Bond... James Bond.


2010-- Move over, Hugh Jackman!
There is a new actor in town, his name is Armitage, Richard Armitage.


HAPPY NEW YEAR!
xoxo, @Rob


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About the guest blogger @Rob:

Been a fan since 2005, after my first viewing of North & South, but it wasn't until I stumbled across Nat's blog that I became a bit more ardent in my "obsession," err um, "interest." My fav fan sites/blogs are this one (of course), Me + Richard Armitage and RichardArmitageOnline. As much as I love, RA, I enjoy the community that has popped up around his fandom even more. Although, I am happily married, I consider Mr. Armitage my pretend hubs. Just kidding. Not really. Well, sort of.

Holiday Recap

Hey, blog readers and fellow RA fans!  Nat here.  Still around, just busy

as I'm sure you have been this holiday season as well.

Here's a look at what kept me so occupied~

1. I trimmed the tree.

The Hubs didn't fully appreciate the "special" star or ornaments.

2. I helped Stick-Figure Richard address and mail his Christmas cards.

I thought this would be a quick task, but apparently he made

many friends traveling the world this year.

3. I watched "Vicar of Dibley" while knitting stripey sweaters for everyone I know.

4. Then I made a miniature Dibley village out of gingerbread.

I would provide a picture, but it looked so good, I ate it.

Speaking of my lack of control when it comes to holiday goodies...

5. I ordered 1,000 boxes of Thorntons chocolate.  (Some for me, and 6 boxes

for a few lucky family and friends.)  Of course, I had to redo the label

to make those chocolates even more drool-worthy:

Dang right.

6. Oh, and apparently I met Richard Armitage and his agent with Traxy!

It may have been a dream, but I'm counting it since everything else was made up.*

So there ya go.

I've been one busy bee.

What have you been up to?

I hope you have had a wonderful holiday season

and enjoy your New Year!

*Half-truths revealed: I did trim a tree (although not with RA decor),

mailed Christmas cards (featuring my children, not SFR), watched VOD and 

ate too much chocolate (although, not from Thorntons.)

How the Giz Stole Christmas

Every Knot-Head down in Nottingham liked Christmas a lot…

but the Giz, who lived just north in Locksley, did NOT!

The Giz hated Christmas! The whole Christmas season!

Now, please don’t ask why. No one quite knows the reason.

It could be his belt wasn't buckled on just right.

It could be, perhaps, that his boots were too tight.

But I think that the most likely reason of all,

may have been that his leather was two sizes too small.

Whatever the reason, his boots or his threads,

He stood there on Christmas Eve, hating the Knot-Heads,

staring down from the castle with a brooding, Gizzy frown,

at the warm lighted windows below in their town.

For he knew every Knot-head down in Nottingham beneath,

was busy now, hanging a mistletoe wreath.

“And they’re hanging their stockings!” he snarled with a sneer,

“Tomorrow is Christmas! It’s practically here!”

Then he growled, with his Gizzy gloved fingers nervously drumming,

“I MUST find some way to stop Christmas from coming!”

For tomorrow, he knew, all the Nottingham girls and boys,

would wake bright and early. They’d rush for their toys!

And then! Oh, the noise! Oh, the noise!

Noise! Noise! Noise!

That’s one thing he hated! The NOISE!

NOISE! NOISE! NOISE!

Then the Knot-Heads, young and old, would sit down to a feast.

And they’d feast! And they’d feast! And they’d FEAST!

FEAST! FEAST! FEAST!

They would feast on medieval pudding, and rare Sherwood-roast beast.

Which was something the Giz couldn’t stand in the least!

And THEN they’d do something he liked least of all!

Every Knot-Head down in Nottingham, the tall and the small,

would stand close together, with Christmas bells ringing.

They’d stand hand-in-hand. And the Knot-Heads would start singing!

They’d sing! And they’d sing! And they’d SING!

SING! SING! SING!

And the more the Giz thought of this Nottingham Christmas Sing,

The more the Giz thought, “I must stop this whole thing!”

“Why, for thirty-five years I’ve put up with it now!”

“I MUST stop this Christmas from coming! But HOW?”

Then he got an idea! An awful idea!

THE GIZ GOT A WONDERFUL, AWFUL IDEA!

“I know just what to do!” the Giz laughed as he spat.

And he made a quick Santy Claus scarf and a hat.

And he chuckled, and clucked, “What a great Gizzy trick!”

“With this scarf and this hat, I look just like Saint Nick!”

“All I need is a reindeer…” the Giz looked around.

But, since reindeer are scarce, there was none to be found.

Did that stop the ol' Gizzy? No! The Giz simply said,

“If I can’t find a reindeer, I’ll make one instead!”

So he called his pal, Vasey. Then he took some red thread,

And he tied a big horn on the top of his head.

THEN He loaded some bags and some old empty containers,

On a ramshackle sleigh and he hitched up old Vazer.

Then the Giz said, “Giddap!” and the sleigh started down,

Toward the homes where the Knot-Heads lay asnooze in their town.

All their windows were dark. Quiet snow filled the air.

All the Knot-Heads were all dreaming sweet dreams without care.

When he came to the first little house on the square.

“This is stop number one,” the old Gizzy Claus hissed,

And he snuck in their house, empty bags in his fist.

He slithered and slunk, with a smile most unpleasant,

Around the whole room, and he took every present!

Bows! And arrows! Hooded cloaks! Drums!

Checkerboards! Axes! Teddy Bears! And plums!

While the Knot-Heads were snoozing, the Giz crept through town,

taking gifts and decorations, anything to be found!

Then he slunk to the icebox. He took their feast!

He took the medieval pudding! He took the roast beast!

He cleaned out that icebox as quick as a flash.

Why, that Giz even took their last can of Knot-hash!

It was quarter past dawn… All the Knot-Heads, still a-bed,

All still asnooze when he packed up his sled.

Packed it up with their presents! The ribbons! The wrappings!

The tags! And the tinsel! The trimmings! The trappings!

He hid it away in the castle's tallest tower.

He sat a-top of the load feeling mighty empowered!

“PoohPooh to the Knot-Heads!” he was Gizzishly humming.

“They’re finding out now that no Christmas is coming!”

“They’re just waking up! I know just what they’ll do!”

“Their mouths will hang open a minute or two,

Then the Knot-Heads down in Nottingham will all cry BooHoo!”

“That’s a noise,” grinned the Giz, “That I simply MUST hear!”

So he paused. And the Giz put his hand to his ear.

And he did hear a sound rising over the snow.

It started in low. Then it started to grow.

But the sound wasn’t sad! Why, this sound sounded merry!

It couldn’t be so! But it WAS merry! VERY!

He stared down at Nottingham! The Giz popped his eyes!

Then he shook! What he saw was a shocking surprise!

Every Knot-Head down in Nottingham, the tall and the small,

was singing! Without any presents at all!

He HADN’T stopped Christmas from coming! IT CAME!

Somehow or other, it came just the same!

And the Giz, with his Giz-boots ice-cold in the snow,

Stood puzzling and puzzling: “How could it be so?”

“It came with out ribbons! It came without tags!”

“It came without packages, boxes or bags!”

And he puzzled three hours, till his puzzler was sore.

Then the Giz thought of something he hadn’t before!

“Maybe Christmas,” he thought, “doesn’t come from a store.”

“Maybe Christmas…perhaps…means a little bit more!”

And what happened then? Well…in Nottingham they say,

that the Giz’s hair grew several inches that day!

And the minute his leather didn’t feel quite so tight,

he whizzed with his load through the bright morning light,

And he brought back the toys! And the food for the feast!

And he, HE HIMSELF! The Giz carved the roast beast!

~Wishing you a warm and Gizzy Christmas season!~

From Nat at The Richard Armitage Fan Blog

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As you know, this was a twist on the 

Dr. Seuss classic "How the Grinch Stole Christmas."

For another Seuss/Armitage combo, click HERE.

The good Doctor is one of my faves.

Screencaps courtesy of RichardArmitageNet's Gallery

and RobinHood2006.com's Gallery

A Revolution of Sorts

An amazing event has taken place lately...

my mom and sisters are becoming hooked on period films!

You can probably guess why this is a good thing... *heh heh* (evil laugh.)

Shhh, JT... you must lay low until the opportune moment

when you are ready to be unleashed onto the unsuspecting ladies.

No, really, this IS a big deal to me because those brats have been making fun of
my love of "those boring movies" forever. It took some self restraint not to disown them over such heresy.

For the longest time, they've turned down my suggestions to watch some of my faves...

but recently something has changed.

My youngest sister Kate borrowed "Pride & Prejudice" (the Matthew MacFadyen version)

and loved it. Of course, I told her if she liked Darcy, she'd LOVE Thornton, but when she found out

"North & South" was a 4 hour mini series, she turned up her nose. The nerve of some people.

Later Kate borrowed "Jane Eyre" (the Toby Stephens version) and loved it as well.

My mom walked into Kate's room while it was playing and it caught her interest, so she took a turn in

borrowing it too. It was soon passed on to my other sister Allie, who has watched it over and over.

While we were gathered together over Thanksgiving weekend, they each told me how

much they enjoyed my movies and asked if I had any other period films to borrow...

That's when I whipped out my Elizabeth Gaskell Collection.

[insert the sound of trumpets here- Dun dun da daaaaaaaaaaa!!!]

I told them of my love of "North & South"

and this time they eagerly listened.

As they began arguing over who would get to borrow it first,

I started getting nervous. It was as if two little imaginary figures appeared

at my shoulders like in the cartoons- Angel Nat and Devil Nat:

Angel Nat wanted to share the RA love with her family members.

After all, this is what she has been trying to do all along, plus there's a New Years Resolution

(converting people to RA fandom) that hasn't been fulfilled yet and the year is almost over!

On the other hand...

Devil Nat didn't want her precious "North & South" DVD to be taken from her home.

"Jane Eyre" had been passed from person to person, and over a month and a half later, it is still missing

from her shelves. Devil Nat didn't know if she could handle JT being gone that long.

What if she needed a Thornton fix and her movie wasn't there!?

Has something similar ever happened to you?
(Torn between being selfish and sharing the RA love.)

I planned to banish my greedy thoughts and let Allie borrow the DVDs, but due to our

busy holiday week, she forgot to take it before driving back to the big city! So JT is sitting safely on my

shelf. I've decided that I may just have to do what many other RA fans have done before me...

keep a copy for myself and buy another to lend out to others. A win-win situation, right?

Also, Allie's birthday is this week, and Christmas is coming up. Maybe my mom

and sisters will each receive their own copies this year. :)

Hopefully some of you have

had better luck recruiting RA converts. 

Technically, I haven't "brought others to the fold" this year...

but hopefully, I'll soon have 3 under my belt ! :)

RAnimation

Though I've been consumed with family events these days,

RA seems to pop into my thoughts at odd moments.

Just one example~

My 5 year old son's latest viewing obsession is
"How to Train Your Dragon" which gets played often in our house.

I was surprised to realize I have a bit of a crush on the brutish Viking leader, Stoick.

You'll probably think I'm crazy for fancying an animation, let alone one that's huge and hairy...

but it's his voice that I like. (So I guess in reality, I have a crush on Gerard Butler's deep voice.)

Of course, I like Richard's voice even better...

which is why it would be awesome if RA were to lend his vocal talents to an animated feature.
Somebody call Disney or DreamWorks, ASAP!  (Perhaps Joan should be our official
RA Fan Correspondent after reading her letter to Entertainment weekly.)

A handsome character like this would be great:

He sort of looks Gisborne-ish, right?

Coincidentally after completing this post, I received an email from Violet8886
(who did a guest post HERE) with the same screencap shown above and these comments:
"A thought occurred to me in regard to the film "Tangled."  Doesn’t the
main male character kinda resemble Richard? I know I may be reaching here...
or a wee bit crazy, LOL, But isn’t there a Gizzy thing going on here?
The haircolor…The hairstyle…The beard… I can see a Guy/Marian dynamic here.
The main female character is in control with her hair wrapped around her “prey," LOL.
Guy was often outdone by Marian.  Maybe there are way more Richard fans in Hollywood.
Or way more folks who understand Richard fans. I say, bring it on!!!"

I told Violet8886 that "great minds think alike"...
because that was nicer than saying "I'll save a seat for you in the loony bin." :)

Anyway, we all love hearing Richard's voice.
So add this fellow to your list of vocal talents, animation studios:

Gratitude

My enthusiasm for blogging about Richard Armitage's work has taken a back seat to

my enthusiasm for staring at another person lately. No, not someone on @Rob's replacement list...

this person is 8 pounds of cuteness, has my husband's nose and smells of baby lotion. 

She has stolen my heart... and any extra time I used to have! :)

Thank you, blog readers and RA buddies, for all of the lovely

thoughts and congratulations during this time. :)

I'd like to share a poem I love:

Song for a Fifth Child

by Ruth Hulburt Hamilton

Mother, oh Mother, come shake out your cloth,

Empty the dustpan, poison the moth,

Hang out the washing and butter the bread,

Sew on a button and make up a bed.

Where is the mother whose house is so shocking?

She’s up in the nursery, blissfully rocking.

Oh, I’ve grown shiftless as Little Boy Blue

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

Dishes are waiting and bills are past due

(Pat-a-cake, darling, and peek, peekaboo).

The shopping’s not done and there’s nothing for stew

And out in the yard there’s a hullabaloo

But I’m playing Kanga and this is my Roo.

Look! Aren’t her eyes the most wonderful hue?

(Lullaby, rockaby, lullaby loo).

The cleaning and scrubbing will wait till tomorrow,

For children grow up, as I’ve learned to my sorrow.

So quiet down, cobwebs. Dust go to sleep.

I’m rocking my baby and babies don’t keep.

Between "blissfully rocking" and guarding the Christmas tree from my 2 1/2-year-old, I've been rather busy.
Therefore, I send another THANK YOU to our gracious guest bloggers! I loved receiving and reading

each post.  It reminded me of my excitement for the FanstRAvaganza in a way, due to different

people contributing their own flare on the topic of Richard Armitage.  Anyway, here's

a reward for the guest bloggers who had the courage to try something new:

Applause, plus this:

No, not the trophy...

your prize is seeing Richard in a tux. :)

Although I'll be blogging once again
(when time allows, which will mean not as often as before),
I plan to leave the invitation open for guest posts and encourage any who are
interested to contribute an entry.  Just email me your RA-related post
with any pictures/videos/links to be included.

Photo Friday~ Holiday Cheer

'Tis the season to rewatch "The Vicar of Dibley" finale!

Also, Happy Chanukah to any who celebrate it!
This is dedicated to Servetus at Me+Richard Armitage  (and any blog reader who is
Jewish and/or a Neil Diamond fan) since I don't have a Festive Cheestastic vid for Chanukah.

*Remember to pause the blog's background music (bottom of screen) before viewing.*

Cartoon Neil's chest hair cracks me up. :)

Other Fish in the Sea ~ by guest blogger @Rob

I was thinking, since Mr. Armitage has hit the big time

with Captain America and The Hobbit, he really doesn't need us.

So, I have created a list of possible candidates that could use an "Army" of fans.

(If these guys don't turn you into a weak kneed fan gurrl, not sure who can.)

Here my recommendations in no particular order:

Ian Somerhalder plays Damon Salvatore on The Vampire Diaries.

He is a def "Baddie" with a soft side. I personally wouldn't mind if he took a bite outta me.

And this guy has the smirking thing down. He even gives our man a run for his $.

Jon Hamm plays Don Draper on Mad Men.

This character is so damaged it is almost beautiful. He could stir my martini anytime.

Another bonus, he can rock those vintage suits.

Matt Bomer plays Neal Caffery on White Collar.

He is the suave and sophisticated con-man who speaks French too.

This guy could con a nun out of her panties. All I have to say is oh là là.

Eric Balfour plays Duke Crocker on Haven.

He's got the nose, he's got the tall dark and handsome thing going along with a

questionable moral compass. What else can a girl ask for?

Oh, and those pecks ain't too bad either!

Jared Padalecki and Jenson Ackles

play brothers Sam and Dean Winchester on Supernatural.

Aren't they cute? The writers even wrote a story line based on fan fic. Love writers who like their fans.

(Hint, hint, Spooks.) Honestly, not sure how they fit in exactly, just wanted

to give you girls some more eye candy. Enjoy!

GOTCHA!!!!

I am just joking around!

Not that these other actors aren't handsome and talented (because they are),

but really could anyone take this guy's place in our hearts?????

I think NOT!

Picture from Richard Armitage Net.

Whether he's a star of the small screen, big screen or the stage he's stuck with us.

Because whether or not he needs us, we still need him.

And that's a fact, Jack.

The post is dedicated to Dezmond at Hollywood Spy,

who is always trying to convince us, although unsuccessfully,

that there are other men out there.

Did I leave anyone off the list?

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About the guest blogger @Rob:

Been a fan since 2005, after my first viewing of North & South, but it wasn't until I stumbled across Nat's blog that I became a bit more ardent in my "obsession," err um, "interest." My fav fan sites/blogs are this one (of course), Me + Richard Armitage and RichardArmitageOnline. As much as I love, RA, I enjoy the community that has popped up around his fandom even more. Although, I am happily married, I consider Mr. Armitage my pretend hubs. Just kidding. Not really. Well, sort of.